So I realized after looking over my last posts that I didn't talk much about the time I spent in Ho Chi Minh City, which was considerable since I was here all during the work week and three weekends! Ho Chi Minh City is hot and humid; the sidewalks are uneven, ruining every pair of shoes I brought with me; the pollution is thick and heavy; the traffic is crazy. I will say that I have loved most every city I have ever visited in my life, but HCMC and I, well we have had a rocky relationship. As you saw in all my pictures, Vietnam is clearly beautiful. As a major city usually is, HCMC is dirtier, louder, less friendly, busier, etc than the more rural areas. There aren't many beautiful buildings or parks, nothing is very walker-friendly besides the downtown area and people aren't particularly nice. This is like most every city, you're thinking. Well the difference here is, is that the unfriendliness and the uncleanliness is engrained in the culture here, not just a few people here and there. For the first month I felt like I was just being really down on the city, maybe because of the culture shock, the language barrier, the almost getting hit by motorscooters...
